straw man 

When you misrepresent a someone's statement as a ridiculous claim they never said so that you can more easily "defeat" them. A bad faith debate tactic that should be frowned upon.

Think of the strawman as a dummy you have crafted yourself so that you can knock it down and pretend like you've won.

Person 1: "This ice cream is delicious."

Person 2: "Yes, but if you ONLY ate ice cream, you'd get fat and your teeth would rot out. Therefore, you shouldn't be enjoying that ice cream knowing that it could be harming you!"

Person 1: "I never said I was ONLY going to eat ice cream. That's a straw man. Also, leave me alone and let me enjoy my ice cream in peace. You're annoying me."

straw man by Papergrin August 6, 2021

straw man 

A logic fallacy involving the purposeful misrepresentation of an argument in order to strike it down.

Beware of logic fallacies.

straw man by Cromage April 25, 2004

straw man 

It is one of the oldest tricks in the book to make a purposeful misrepresentation of another person's position and then arguing against the fictitious position, knocking it down. It is the straw man rhetorical fallacy.

Man 1 sets up a weak position and attributes it to Man 2, then attacks the weak position; like setting up and fighting a straw man, easily knocking it down. Then the opponent, Man 2 is drawn into defending himself against the misrepresentations, and Man 1 doesn't have to talk about his opponents actual position.

Mary began lecturing John about the benefits of immigration for our country after John spoke in favor of building a wall along the border. But Mary was fighting a straw man because John is actually in favor of legal immigration; he just wants it done in an orderly manner so the drug cartels cannot easily cross the border undetected.

straw man by topcat1957 August 5, 2016

Straw man 

1. Scarecrow which is flimsy and fragile. Therefore, straw man document or straw man proposal means it is a “flimsy” document that is just an initial draft of a subject which is expected to be modified by others

2. A debate technique used to refute an opposing view by misrepresenting the opposing side and then attribute that deliberately misrepresented view to the opponents.

Someone should start to write a straw man document before we can have discussion for all the details.

The opposition party has conjured up a bogus image before proceeding to knock it down. They are using that bogus image or fallacy as a straw man for the false and scurrilous claim

Straw man by vanderpol August 3, 2010

straw man 

a man

made of straw.

fuck you.

"I saw a guy made of straw. He was a straw man."
"Holy mother fucking giant bags of shit, you savage cunt."

straw man by Jombo March 25, 2013

straw man 

A favorite opponent of philosophers, politicians, pseudo-intellectuals, real intellectuals, atheists, creationists, political activists, and conspiracy theorists, and a perennially useful one at that.

Said the creationist to the uninformed, using his favorite straw man, "Since randomly jamming your television set rarely fixes any problem, the blind process of evolution is therefore a scientific improbability."

straw man by Killing Kittens November 14, 2005

straw man 

A sucker who is roped into a scam unknowingly and often used as a scapegoat to deflect the attention of the authorities from the real crime.

In tonight's news, the pastor of a local church became a straw man in a check kiting scam.

straw man by Yochana February 24, 2009